The 2016 National Scripps Spelling Bee is underway in Washington, D.C.
The annual event brings the country's strongest spellers (or at least those who haven't graduated the eighth grade) together for four days of feats of academic super-strength.
The days are long. It's stressful. And while the competitors love the challenge, it's not for the faint of heart.
All photos by Alex Wong/Getty Images.
But this event is much bigger than the small school spelling bees you may be familiar with.
Here are 15 facts about the National Spelling Bee you may not know.
1. In 1925, nine newspapers joined forces to start the bee.
2. Scripps took over in 1941, and it's still running the show today.
3. There were no spelling bees in 1943, 1944, or 1945 — it was put on hold for World War II.
4. Spellers at the bee take a preliminary test before the oral rounds begin.
To get past the preliminaries, the spellers have to earn at least 27 of 30 points on a vocabulary test. Needless to say, it's really tough. You can take it for yourself and see how you score.
5. 29 of the spellers this year have family members who've competed in the bee before.
Two of the spellers have siblings who've won the whole thing.
6. 66% of the spellers attend public school.
7. Speller Zander Reed of Ames, Iowa, is competing in the bee for the fourth time!
This is Zander back in 2013, when he could barely reach the microphone:
8. The youngest speller in the competition this year is Akash Vukoti, a 6-year-old first-grader from San Angelo, Texas.
He was on the "Steve Harvey Show" in March.
9. The competition at the bee has intensified over the years. The winning word in 1940? Therapy. The winning word in 2015? Scherenschnitte.
(Author's note: My computer doesn't recognize this as a word, but young Vanya Shivashankar from Olathe, Kansas, spelled it correctly to take home the title.)
10. If spellers miss a word — and most of them will — there's a crying couch.
It's away from the stage, and spellers can reflect with their families for a while.
11. National Spelling Bee champions are an elite group, with only 93 winners in the history of the event. There have been 48 girls and 45 boys.
12. Paige Kimble, the executive director of the event, is a former champion.
Her winning word in 1981 was "sarcophagus."
Kimble chats with a young speller at a press conference in 2012.
13. The bee's announcer, Jacques Bailly, is a former winner too. He reached out to Scripps to ask about a position, and they happened to have a need.
His winning word in 1980 was "elucubrate."
14. In the bee's history, co-champions have been crowned only five times, including 2014's and 2015's winners.
2015 co-champions Vanya Shivashankar (left) of Olathe, Kansas, and Gokul Venkatachalam of St. Louis.
15. Spelling bee champions receive $40,000 cash, $400 in reference books, and a $2,500 savings bond.
16. Oh, and no one really knows why it's called a "bee" anyway.
It's an American term, found in print in 1875, but scholars suggest it was probably around before then. It could be related to the busy, industrious nature of the insect and the way they work in teams, but no one knows for sure.
The spelling bee is an iconic celebration of language and literacy.
Whenever we can cheer kids on for pursuing the interesting and mind-expanding hobbies they love, we should. Keep it up, kids! You're all amazing!
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."